


Off to the Races

by blindinglights



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Inspired by Art, M/M, Mechanic Jack Zimmermann, Mechanic Tater, Street Racing AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-04
Packaged: 2020-04-07 13:29:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19086001
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blindinglights/pseuds/blindinglights
Summary: The thing is, Bitty knows that Jack doesn’t mind Bitty racing because Jack still races. He knows this, they’ve talked about it a lot. He also knows that Jack is only worried this time because of the fact that he’s racing the Lax Bros again, because of some stupid bet they made before.





	Off to the Races

**Author's Note:**

  * For [actualkon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/actualkon/gifts).



> This is for the OMGCP Reverse Bang! The art is by [transzimmermann/actualkon](https://transzimmermann.tumblr.com). You can find their wonderful art [here](https://transzimmermann.tumblr.com/post/185352664373/aesthetic-for-off-to-the-races)! Thank you to both Kay and Megan for the beta! All remaining mistakes are my own.

“Are you racing Saturday?” 

Bitty looks up from where he’s rolling out the crust for a pie, to where Jack’s standing in the doorway. Jack’s leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed, looking so much like he did the first time Bitty met him on the street, swarmed by flashy cars. 

“Yes,” Bitty replies easily because he is. He’d thought about it, weighed the pros and cons based off of what happened last time. He likes driving, of having the feel of the car underneath his feet, the vibrations against his back. So yes, he’s racing Saturday.

Jack lets out a sigh, pushing off of the doorframe. Bitty looks back down at what he was doing. He starts placing the crust in the pie pan, smoothing out the edges until it looks perfect enough for him and then starts putting in the filling he has waiting in a bowl. 

“I don’t want you to,” Jack says, then sighs again. “But I’m not going to stop you, if it’s what you want to do.” 

“I need to do it,” Bitty says, no questions asked.

“Okay,” Jack says. “Okay, I’ll be right beside you.”

\--

The thing is, Bitty knows that Jack doesn’t mind Bitty racing because Jack still races. He knows this, they’ve talked about it a lot. He also knows that Jack is only worried this time because of the fact that he’s racing the Lax Bros again, because of some stupid bet they made before. Ever since Bitty first started racing, he’s had his issues and it doesn’t help that the last time he raced against the Lax team, he had almost not even ended the race. If it wasn’t for Jack, he’s pretty sure he would’ve never raced again. So, he and the Lax team had eventually ended up making a bet, because the Lax team never thought Bitty could ever beat them and Bitty’s been determined since then that he could. 

Bitty’s gotten better at driving now. He’s gotten more confident behind the wheel, mostly due to the help from Jack. 

So, if the Lax team is going to talk shit and think Bitty can’t beat them, then Bitty isn’t going to back down. 

Bitty just needs Jack’s support and he will get through it just fine. Or so he tries to tell himself, at least.

\--

If there’s a plus side to everything, it’s that the Lax team didn’t plan the race behind Bitty’s back. He thinks maybe they’re not even smart enough or sly enough to do that to begin with. So, the race ends up as a joint planned event between Bitty’s team and theirs, and it’s, thankfully, an area Bitty knows. And there’s still time to plan and figure out who he’s going to have help him with it.

He has Tater, who he knows is going to look over his car before the race and make sure it’s in perfect shape for racing. Tweak it, maybe. There’s no way Tater’s going to let him drive the car before he gets underneath the hood to do his magic on it. Knowing Jack, he’s going to help Tater out. Bitty’s just going to stand off to the side, ask a few questions, but mostly just watch the two men work. 

Sure enough, when Bitty makes his way out into the garage, Tater has his head underneath the hood, the sounds of tools clanking against the metal of the car. Jack’s leaning against it, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, grease already on his hands and arms. Bitty shakes the two bottles in his hands. 

“Y’all need a drink break,” Bitty says as he makes his way over to Jack. He pushes one of the beer bottles into Jack’s hands. “You’re working yourselves too hard.”

“Need good car for race,” Tater says. “Not sending Itty Bitty out there without checkup, you know. Car maintenance is important.” 

“You were just looking at my car last week,” Bitty says, smiling down at Tater.

“Yes,” Tater says, holding his hand out for Jack to put a new tool in his hand. “But is fun, is nice working on cars. I like this. Plus helps you, you know? And I work on all the cars.” 

“Not just mine, I know.” 

“Best mechanic, lucky you have me,” Tater points the wrench at them both.

“Luckiest,” Jack agrees,

Bitty ends up sitting up on the bench nearby, Jack resting back between his legs when he’s not getting underneath the hood himself. Tater’s telling stories about his time as a mechanic when he was younger, back when he used to help his father in his shop. The entire time, Bitty finds himself combing his hands through Jack’s hair, feeling content in the company of his boyfriend and one of his closest friends. 

The race seems far away right now.

\--

Bitty’s laying on the couch, scrolling through Twitter, when Ransom and Holster pretty much fall into the living room, almost tripping over each other in their haste to get to Bitty.

“We heard you’re racing the Lax team?” is the first thing out of Ransom’s mouth.

“Yep.,” Bitty says. 

“You know you don’t have to,” Ransoms says.

“Everyone keeps tellin’ me that, but it’s going to be fine.” 

“You could just forget about those assholes,” Holster says, and it’s true. Bitty could, but the fact is he doesn’t _want_ to. 

“I just want to get this over with,” Bitty says with a sigh. “Look, I get why y’all are worrying about me, but it’s going to be alright. I think I can do it this time. I just need everyone to believe that I can.”

Both Ransom and Holster deflate at that, their faces morphing into mild concern. Both of them pull Bitty into a hug, squeezing him tightly. 

“We do believe in you,” Holster says earnestly. “We always believe in you.”

“Yeah,” Ransom agrees. “If you want to try racing them again, then we’ll be right by your side.” 

“Thank you,” Bitty murmurs, enjoying the hug. 

\--

Things go on as they normally do. Tater continues to stay in the garage most days, working on Bitty’s car and getting it prepared for the big race. Jack either spends his time reading next to Bitty, or out running errands. The rest of their group is either hanging around the house or doing whatever it is that they do. Bitty doesn’t even ask half the time, not after that one time he did and got an answer that he really didn’t want to hear. As long as they’re all not getting into trouble, he doesn’t care. 

Bitty bakes most of the time, everything from pies of all sizes to bread and cookies. He brings out a mini pie to Tater and Jack one day. Tater hugs him tightly for that, thanking him profusely. 

There are some nights Bitty will get behind the wheel, with Jack in the passenger seat, and he’ll drive the route that was agreed upon. He knows this road by heart because he drives around this area enough. It’s an advantage for him, but he knows it means it’s also an advantage for the other group as well. The only thing Bitty doesn’t know is which Chad he’ll have to race against because, if you asked him, they all were the same guy in slightly different looking bodies. It’s sometimes scary how identical they all look for not being related.

Some nights, when Jack is with him in the passenger seat, Jack will tell him things quietly - just small bits of coaching. (“Don’t forget to ease off the gas when you turn here,” Jack will say, his hand a reassuring pressure against his leg. “A sharp turn won’t do you any favors, Bitty. Not here.”) It eases some of the nerves that he’s feeling, helps get him in the right frame of mind, and reminds him of back when he and Jack first started -- rivals to friends to something /more/. It makes his chest feel lighter, makes a smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he listens to Jack’s voice near his ear. It’s comforting.

There’s two days until the race.

\--

When Bitty isn’t busying himself with racing, he runs a small bakery in downtown Providence. He does most of the baking himself but hired a few people to help him man the registers. But he’s also taught a few of them how to bake, just in case he might need some help. Neither of his employees know about Bitty’s other life outside of being a business owner sometimes Bitty wants to tell them, just to have someone to talk to about all the drama with racing. But, it’s also nice to have people who have no idea, and be able to separate the two worlds. His employees think that Jack is just a mechanic -- which isn’t even a lie --since Jack works with Tater at a mechanic shop. 

“Where’s Jack today?” Dex asks as he packs up his stuff to leave for the day.

Bitty looks at the clock, seeing that it’s usually around the time Jack drops by when he’s not busy. “He’s got a project, hun,” Bitty replies. “He won’t be in today.”

Well, Jack might still drop by, but it won’t be until Dex is already gone for the day.

“He’s stuck at work?” 

Bitty nods. “He and Tater have a car they need to have done for tomorrow.” 

“Well, tell him I say hey,” Dex says. 

Bitty tells him he will and tells him to have a good rest of his day. Bitty takes care of the rest of the closing duties then heads home. When Bitty gets home, Jack and Tater are still in the garage so he heads out to see them. He only sees half of Jack’s body, since he’s laying on the creeper seat. Tater is leaning against the workbench, a beer clutched in his hand and talking about the current hockey season.

Jack swears in French and then he’s pushing himself out from underneath the car, shaking his hand. 

“You okay, honey?” Bitty asks. 

Jack’s still shaking his hand out, rubbing the side of it. “Yeah, just turned something wrong.” 

Bitty leans down as Jack leans up, giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Bitty goes to pull away, but Jack moves his hand to the back of Bitty’s head, pulling him back down for a longer kiss. Bitty smiles when they finally break apart. 

“Be careful, sweetheart,” Bitty says. “Do you boys want anything?”

“We’re good.”

“Well, holler if you want anything. I need to work on the books for the bakery and then I’ll be out here,” Bitty says.

Jack nods, and then pulls Bitty in for a quick kiss before letting Bitty leave the garage. Bitty spends an hour going through his paperwork and ordering anything he had noted earlier in the day that he needs. Once he’s done, he makes his way back out to the garage, where both Jack and Tater are sitting by the car. Bitty grabs himself a drink and makes himself comfortable on Jack’s lap, Jack’s arms wrapping around Bitty’s waist on instinct. 

\--

Jack and Tater finish the car with just a day left to spare. Bitty spends the last day they’re working on it baking in the hopes of keeping his mind off of the race. He knows they’re going to make sure the car will be able to handle whatever happens, and he knows he’s a great driver. But there’s still that small part of his brain that’s running over the various ‘what if’s’ -- telling him what if he loses, what if something goes wrong, what if…. In racing, _anything_ could happen and there’s so much uncertainty, that Bitty can’t help but be nervous as the hours tick down to race time.

So, he bakes.

Bitty’s so caught up in placing the apples in the pie crust that he doesn’t even hear Jack enter the kitchen and he jerks a bit in surprise when Jack wraps his arms around Bitty’s waist, pulling him close against his chest. Jack places a kiss against the side of his neck and Bitty sighs. 

“All done,” Jack says against his neck. “You should be good for tomorrow.” 

“Thanks for fixing up my baby,” Bitty says, squeezing Jack’s arm with his free hand. 

“Anything for you,” Jack says and then asks, “Stress baking?” 

“A little bit,” Bitty concedes and then admits, “I’m just a little nervous about the race.”

“Because you lost last time?” Jack guesses, but they both know that’s why. 

“Yeah,” Bitty trails off.

Jack gives his hips a comforting squeeze. “You know what my uncle always told me?”

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” Bitty recites, because Jack’s said this before.

“Yeah,” Jack replies. “So, get out there and you take your shot. You won’t know until you try.” 

Bitty smiles. He loves this man so much, and he’s not sure what he’d ever do without him. “I love you.”

“Love you, too, Bits.”

\--

Bitty drives to where the race is set to start with Jack in the passenger seat. There’s a huge crowd when they get there. Everything is roped off in areas, a long ribbon is woven in between street lights and trash cans. There’s music playing, loud enough that Bitty can feel the baseline in his bones. It’s everything Bitty loves about these races and it makes Bitty miss when he was just a mere spectator, coming to these events to see what would happen,watching for the thrill of wondering who will win. 

But now, he has a race to win. 

He grips the stick shift and closes his eyes, before opening them and looking over at Jack. Jack reaches over, pulling Bitty into a quick kiss. 

“You’ve got this, bud,” Jack says, smiling comfortingly. 

“Thanks, honey,” Bitty says. He wishes Jack would stay in the car with him, but he knows he has to do this on his own. Maybe next time they can race with each of them in the car. 

Jack gives him another quick kiss before exiting the car. Jack gives the hood a quick tap, letting Bitty know that he should be good to go after he gives the car another once over. Bitty looks around his surroundings, seeing Tater, Ransom, and Holster standing off to the side. Ransom gives him a thumbs up and Holster yells something that sounds a lot like, “you’ve got this!” Bitty smiles, wondering what he’d do if he didn’t have such great friends like he does now. 

There’s a car on each side of Bitty, one blue, the other grey, and both drivers keep looking at Bitty like they think this is going to be an easy race. He knows the left guy, recognizes him as one of the Lax Bros but the right guy is a mystery. He grips the stick shift harder, cracks his neck and rolls his eyes before giving each of them a look as if to say _try me_. He doesn’t think it’s fair that the Lax team has two cars racing, and he wonders for a moment if the planned to have another team race to ‘spice things up.’ Either way, Bitty does have this. 

He sets his eyes back at the person in front of them waving the flag and when the shot goes off, Bitty steps on the gas. 

The race they’ve setup isn’t difficult. They’re supposed to drive around Providence, through a few side streets, and circle around until they make their way back to the start. He’s memorized the turns by now, knows exactly where he’s going, so he’s ready. It’s eight miles long, and he knows anything could happen. But he can’t think about that.

The first few blocks go by pretty easily. Nobody does anything sketchy until they reach the first turn. The grey car to his right is growling, the transmission loud as the driver shifts gears and the driver, some blond dude in a backwards snapback that looks vaguely familiar, keeps his eyes on the road. The blue car in the left that’s being driven by someone Bitty knows belongs to the Lax Bros team, starts to veer off and out of his lane, jerking his car towards Bitty and coming into his lane more and more, trying to blatantly veer him off course and off the road. It’s a dangerous move that and Bitty only narrowly prevents himself from running into one of the cones they’ve set up as he manages to keep his car steady. He quickly hits the break to get behind the Lax Bros car, then quickly shifting gears before he steps on the gas again, roaring past the He manages to get ahead of the Lax racer somehow. 

Bitty laughs, “Didn’t plan that out well, didya.” 

He keeps his eyes on the road ahead, anticipating the next turn and doing it smoothly. He almost loses the lead a few times, narrowly avoiding the other racers. About halfway through the race, the Lax driver hits him. Bitty jerks in his seat, his hands gripping tighter to the steering wheel. He looks into his rearview mirror and narrows his eyes. 

“Y’all trying to run me over?” Bitty snorts. He pulls the steering wheel hard to the left, jerking over into the other lane. “I am not surprised at all.” 

The Lax Bro follows him into the other lane and Bitty has to speed up just to prevent them from hitting him again. He goes over into the other lane again. He’s driving as fast as he thinks he can possibly get his car to go. He takes a chance to look at his dashboard, seeing that he’s going over a hundred, and then he remembers what Jack told him before the race started. 

(“We gave your car a few surprises,” Jack had said, leaning close so only Bitty could hear. 

“I want to win this fair and square, Jack,” Bitty had told him. “I don’t want to cheat.”

“It’s not cheating. You know I don’t believe in that.”

“I know, but that’s what it sounds like.”

“We just gave your baby a little boost. Nowhere in the rules did it say anything about that.”)

Bitty looks down at the console of the car and sees the new button that Jack had shown him earlier, said if he pressed it, it would boost how fast he was going, utilizing the nitro. It’d only do it for a limited amount of time, but it’d help him out in any case. It could give him a little distance from his opponents, at least. So he presses it, holding tighter to the wheel as his speed starts climbing. He can feel it against his back. 

He looks in his rearview mirror again and sees how much distance he managed to give himself. There are only two miles left, and he’s feeling a lot more confident now. When the hydraulics kicks off, he slows back to the speed he was at before the boost. There are two more large turns, and after he makes the last turn, he can see the finish line. 

Bitty laughs.

“I did it,” Bitty says in disbelief. “Oh my god.” 

When he crosses the finish line two minutes later, he yells. He steps on the break, drifts a bit and then pulls over to the side. He’s barely out of his car before Jack is grabbing him and spinning him around in the air.

“I knew you could do it, Bits,” Jack murmurs against his neck. 

Bitty smiles and pulls Jack into a kiss. A few minutes later, he can hear the Lax Bros team yelling, clearly pissed that they lost.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
